Review:
Hilleberg the Tentmaker
Some stories are too good not to pass on. We have had the pleasure of meeting Bo, Renate and their daughter, Petra who in 2000, founded Hilleberg, Inc., the US subsidiary in Redmond, WA. Not only is their story inspirational, but they are lovely people. Hilleberg is a family owned business started over forty years ago and they are rightfully known for their highest quality lightweight all season tents. We love their principles of making tents and wish all companies could follow suit. They believe the tents must pass reliability, adaptability, ease of use, durability, comfort, and light weight.
Their history is so special, we are going to quote them. ”In 1971, Bo Hilleberg, a professional forester, founded his own company, Hilleberg AB. That same year, while on a ski vacation in the Austrian Tyrol, Bo met Renate Neuner. After a couple of years, the two had fallen in love, married, and she had moved with him to Stockholm, Sweden. Their marriage was the final, necessary ingredient in the mix that has become Hilleberg the Tentmaker.
Before Renate, Bo’s fledgling company was primarily a forestry equipment concern, with tent making as a hoped-for sideline. An avid, lifelong outdoorsman, Bo was terminally frustrated with tents that required pitching the inner tent first and then covering it with a loose rain fly that usually displayed the same properties as a kite in the wind. He envisioned a tent that had an outer and inner tent that pitched together, simultaneously – but he didn’t have the necessary sewing skills. With Bo and Renate’s marriage, conjugal and commercial became one: Renate took charge of the sewing while Bo handled design and sales, a division of labor that has served the couple – and company – admirably ever since.”
Their web site information on this tent is very complete so we will try to highlight our experience. We feel very safe in any weather in this tent. High winds and rain are no longer a worry. Although we personally don’t winter camp we know that anyone who camps in the Fall or Spring is going to get caught in snow. We decided a four season tent is the way to go! We don’t mind being wet and dirty when we are doing the activities, but at our age, we want a good night’s sleep!The directions are very clear to set it up, but it is so simple, after reading it once, we won’t need the directions.
You only need to stake out four places and the interior and exterior tent set up together. We carefully, inserted the four poles and we were done! When they say this is a three person tent, they actually mean it. John is 6’2” and not slim, so he usually wants two thirds of the tent. The tent is 220 cm long by 185 cm wide. It has two vestibules, the back plenty big enough for two backpacks and the front one is 180 cm long! Its duel entrances and vestibules, four pockets in the tent and a line the entire length of the roof make organization a breeze.
The tent has large flaps to protect the top quality zippers, the high bathtub floor keeps water out, and full no see-um on the inner tent doors covered by equal sized zipper adjustable fabric panels allows for all season comfort. The adjustable vents on each vestibule can be closed with snow-proof panels. They are accessible from inside or outside the tent. The looped guy line with two line runners is affixed to double guy line attachments on each side of the pole for extra stability
...Fiftysense Product Review Panel